Civilization VI – How unstacking cities will affect gameplay

2K and Firaxis games have today announced a new feature due to appear in their upcoming game – Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. The feature, known as ‘unstacking cities’ will be one of a range of new features coming to the game.

Unstacking cities will introduce a whole new set of opportunities in regards to strategy and planning, as players will have to take many factors into consideration whenever they decide to settle their cities. You must adapt, change your gameplay styles, adjust to the environment, and consider greater city specilisation to ensure domination over those that would oppose you.

In Civilization V, players merely had to queue a build order – decide what buildings their want, construct them, and the entire city would benefit from the constructs. However, in Civilization VI, tiles will affect the potency of Districts, as well as limit which Wonders can be built. The result is that players must now be flexible, create a diverse empire across the planet, as simply settling anywhere just will not benefit you in the long run any longer. There is no longer a single template for victory. It will be fun for players to discover new ways to conquer, not just civilizations, but the environment.

Just a small number of Civilization VI’s available city districts.

Now, players will also have to take into account the fact that, as cities expand, they will become more exposed to attack. The warmongers among you will now be able to attack specific tiles in an attempt to cripple a city before making the push to the city centre. Of course, not everyone wants to go to war, and for those of you that are more passive, peaceful perhaps, you will have to take into consideration your city’s full perimeter. Your empire now consists of so much more than your city centres.

From a purely aesthetical aspect, unstacking cities will provide players with a greater immersive world as they see their cities diversify, grow. This feature should make players feel connected to their empire, as they see the effect their choices make on their cities. The world in Civilization VI is now one step closer to reflecting the diverse world that we ourselves live in.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI will be released for Windows PC on Friday, 21st October 2016.